Tax all inheritance in France, says union chief

The leader of France’s largest union, CFDT, has said she wants all inheritances in France to be taxed – and plans to discuss the idea with presidential candidates other than those on the far right.

“We favour a reform of inheritance tax, so that every inheritance would be taxed, from the first euro, which is not the case today,” Marylise Léon said on RTL.

This would mean substantially changing the current system of tax-free allowances (abattements), which include a €100,000 allowance for inheritances from a parent to a child.

Ms Léon has suggested that this could work by taxing the first part of any inheritance at a new low 1% rate, however she did not go into further details of the proposed system nor did she mention spouses who currently inherit tax free.

The government has previously estimated that two-thirds of estates involve no inheritance tax.

Inheritance tax is emerging as an issue in the 2027 presidential campaign.

Centre-left candidate Raphaël Glucksmann proposes additional taxation of the largest 1% of inheritances, while green candidate Marine Tondelier's party proposes additional taxes on inheritances above €4million.

In contrast, right-wing candidate Bruno Retailleau has pledged to reduce inheritance tax, while Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal have proposed making it easier to pass money on through lifetime gifts.

Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National proposes excluding up to €300,000 of property from inheritance tax calculations and allowing €100,000 tax-free gifts to descendants every ten years, rather than every 15.